The succubus smiled slyly and kept it up as she and Vyath mounted their horses. I did see a spark of curiosity in the otherwise ever-so-serious male elf and decided I’d keep them waiting just a bit longer before spilling the beans.

We walked out of the courtyard onto a wide dirt road leading further north. By the time we left, everyone in the courtyard had gone back to their training. A few people still looked at me every now and then, but it seemed the shock of a massive spider had already mostly passed. I had to admit they were quick with that.

The fact that Gwyn had covered for me earlier made me trust her more than I otherwise would after knowing someone for such a short time, so I was more or less comfortable with telling her my full story. She wouldn’t be able to tell anyone either way because then it would become clear she lied. I wasn’t too sure about Vyath, though. He seemed more interested in knowing things than in gathering information for the commander, which would explain his position as an archivist.

“So yeah,” I said after leaving the garrison behind. “I can keep my spider-half awake while sleeping with this upper body. Crazy, isn’t it?”

“What the?” Gwyn let out. “That’s crazy, indeed.”

“It’s funny,” Cellestra said, smiling. “It’s funny to know I have a gigantic spider watch over me while I’m asleep.”

Gwyn burst into laughter. “Oh my, that does sound reassuring to know.”

“You mentioned before that you were… are an elf,” Vyath said. “What happened exactly, if I may ask?”

“You may ask, and I’d like to answer it too, but I’d like you to keep this to yourself. Another thing is that I do not want you guys to face any unknown danger and I feel obliged to be truthful to you for that reason.”

“What are you talking about?” Vyath said.

I sighed. “You’re an archivist, right? You have access to knowledge. I fear you may need that.”

The succubus and elf were riding on either side of me again and I turned my head to look at Gwyn, who nodded in agreement. She knew exactly what I was going to say.

“You see,” I continued. “I haven’t told the full truth back there, simply because of fear. Before I get to that, let me start at the beginning.”

I took a deep breath while I prepared to recite my story, at least most of it. I figured I could skip out the part where I wasn’t originally from this world as it would not matter too much.

“I died,” I said with my eyes closed.

Shock appeared on our new temporary traveling companions while I saw my own death before me once again.

“But I died fighting for a noble cause. Then, I met Elysa in her realm. Long story short, she gave me a second chance at life, but I was cursed by Hograd to be a spider. Elysa countered the curse as much as she could through a blessing on me, and this is the result of that.”

The succubus opened her mouth to speak, but I silenced her by raising a finger and pedipalp while I continued. “Now, about what happened at the obelisk. I was told by Cellestra that there was some kind of magic in them that has disappeared over the years. You probably know more about that than me, Vyath.”

I paused for a second. “Anyway, I walked up to the stone, which had an engraved circle with strange symbols. When I put my hand on the surface, the ring and symbols lit up with a bright red light. Everything around me went black for a second or so, as if it was night, but way darker. After that, the red light from the letters disappeared and Cellestra and I decided to get away from the structure. Moments after that, the red light shot up. I have the feeling that this all has something to do with the goddess’s blessing inside me.”

Vyath looked in shock at the succubus on the other side of me. Gwyn nodded.

“Not a single lie in there.”

“That’s… shocking,” Vyath said softly. “As I said before, I don’t know much about the structures but this information is nothing short of… how do I put it?”

“Important to know?” I suggested. “Keeping this to myself felt like a terrible idea.”

The elf nodded. “I agree, and I thank you for sharing this. Whatever happened, this seems like it’s important to figure out.”

“Once again, keep this to yourself. I don’t want to get chased down by soldiers for what I did.” I added.

“We don’t blame you,” Gwyn said warmly. “And this will stay between us, right Vyath, dear?”

The male elf nodded. “It will. I wouldn’t want to invoke Elysa’s wrath.”

I had a hard time suppressing a chuckle. It seemed the goddess’s wrath was feared by many inhabitants of this world. Did they know that Elysa couldn’t interfere in this world directly? Then again, I imagined she could always make people suffer after they died since she could pull them into her realm if she wanted. I shuddered at the thought but doubted it would be something she would do. She was still a kind goddess in my heart.

Then again, there was probably a reason behind the fear. It was just that I hadn’t seen it justified yet.

“Thanks,” I said. “Do you think you need anything more, Vyath?”

Vyath hummed as he thought out loud. “Goddess’s blessing, obelisk, possible connection to Hograd.”

Hearing the elf mention his name prompted a question from me. “What do you know about Hograd?”

“He’s evil,” Gwyn replied in Vyath’s stead.

“One could say that,” The elf said. “He’s a bloodthirsty god, always out for conflict. Thankfully, he is only worshiped by a minority of the humans on this continent. How did you even manage to draw his ire?”

“I don’t know,” I said softly. “That’s something I’m trying to figure out myself. Before I died, I took a good number of human bandits with me. Maybe he is mad because of that?”

“I wouldn’t see why, but I’m no god,” Vyath replied. “It’s hard to know exactly what they feel.”

I shrugged. “I know about that, alright.” I then sighed. “You know, this is not how I imagined this second chance at life. I’ve had plenty of things to worry about already, and now I have this whole mysterious obelisk thing on top of it.”

Cellestra’s lips formed a soft smile as she patted my back again.

“I hope this is nothing bad,” Vyath continued. “If nothing else, maybe we will get to the bottom of what those structures actually are. I know countless people have broken their heads over it. I haven’t been bothered to delve into it too deeply — as many already have, and to no avail. I think this is the first proper lead in generations.”

“Ever the curious type, aren’t you?” Gwyn let out in an amused tone.

“Even if I wasn’t the curious type, this needs to be investigated,” Vyath replied bluntly.

“I hope you’ll be able to figure things out. If you need my assistance, I’d be happy to help. The only issue is that you’ll have to come and look for me.”

“Where were you headed again?” The elf asked.

“Thymhil. My parents were there. I was hoping you would know how to get there,” I replied.

“Thymhil, huh? That’s at the other end of the province. It’s a small settlement by the sea.” His eyes narrowed as he was obviously thinking about something.

“Hold on a second…”

I didn’t like the tone of his words.

“You’re going back to your parents, right? How would they even react if they saw you like this? Aren’t you afraid of what they will say considering you died?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know, it’s as simple as that. I think… I hope their shock will be as mild as the one back at the garrison. I’m alive and well, that should count for something.”

There was of course the fact that Elysa had placed this slight curse on them that sealed some of their memories so they didn’t know about me yet. Still, I liked to imagine that I was correct in assuming they would accept me no matter what. Otherwise, this whole reincarnation thing would have been… pointless.

I felt myself fall into despair and quickly reasserted myself. I was still me. I wouldn’t let what Hograd had done get to me. I wouldn’t allow him that pleasure.

“If you need any help with, let’s say, influencing their emotions, I’d be happy to help,” Gwyn said with a grin.

I shook my head. “Thank you, but I don’t think that would be necessary.”

Vyath closed his eyes and shook his head. “Succubi…”

Cellestra giggled in reaction, which in turn caused me to suppress one as well. I secretly hoped that I would see these two people again after we went our separate ways. I had the feeling I would.